I See You
by Darcy'sClaws
Summary: There is a new teacher at Hogwarts taking the position Professor of Defence Against The Dark Arts. Snape is unsure of this blast from his past and does not wish to get too close.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This is the first time I have used an OC in fan-fiction, but this is a character I have had floating around in my head for a while. I couldn't think of anyone better to pit her against than Snape. This fic was partially inspired by the song Away by Breaking Benjamin, hence the title. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The sound of clicking heels filled the dim corridors of Hogwarts as someone scurried hurriedly through them. The clicking was accompanied by the swish of petticoats and soft little pants as the person swung around a corner, giving a little wave to one of the many portraits on the wall, which smiled and tipped his hat to her as she dashed passed. Hands gloved in black velvet reached up to straighten a black bobble hat upon her head, fully covering her ears and the rim just above her startling blue eyes, before fiddling with the crow skull broach at the collar of her blouse and patting down her full skirts. Little black lace up boots skidded to a halt before one of the many doors, from which inside she could hear the chatter of students. Taking a deep breath, the young woman clasped her little carpet bag and went inside.

Severus Snape loomed out of the shadows from where he had watched the woman dash past and sneered, gathering his robes about him and crossing his arms. His black eyes narrowed as the person hesitated before entering the room, amused at her apparent nerves. The Potions Master had scoffed at the bobble hat and shook his head.

_What's she playing at...? _

He harrumphed in displeasure and waited a few moments before following the woman into the room. Snape wanted to wait until the woman felt a little more at ease, to relax and get into the swing of things, before he made his presence known...

Harry and Ron looked up at the sound of the door being opened and watched curiously as a young woman, no taller than five foot scuttled into the room. Harry wondered if perhaps she was a new student who had missed the opening ceremony for this year. He wondered what house she was in. Ron's eyebrows flew up into his fringe as the woman placed her bag onto the Professors desk and began to rummage around inside it, a soft blush creeping across her cheeks. With a little huff, she trotted up to the blackboard and wrote across it in large elegant writing:

_Professor Lox_

"Good afternoon class! And may I first apologise for being so late, I was called in at the last minute as unfortunately Professor Slouch is now unable to be your teacher for reasons I cannot divulge."

Hermione put down her quill for a moment to lean over to Harry and Ron and whisper quizzically.

"She looks a little bit young to be a teacher... she doesn't look much older than twenty."

Ron shrugged and whispered back.

"I dunno... maybe she's just really smart or something."

Professor Lox snapped the carpet bag shut and placed it behind her desk before picking up a large red leather bound book and smiling at the class.

"And so I welcome you to your Defence against the Dark Arts class! Please turn to page 275..."

It was at this point that the door swung open and Professor Snape strode into the classroom. The students muttered amongst themselves as the Potions Master marched towards the new teacher and plucked the bobble hat from her head. She attempted to snatch it back, but the muttering in the room had already gotten much louder. Poking out through her jaw length messy black hair was long elfin like ears. Professor Lox flushed angrily and held out her hand expectantly. She spoke in a low hushed tone, and the students leant forward, straining to hear.

"If you have quite finished trying to show me up in front of my class, Severus..."

Snape smirked and dropped the woollen hat into the young woman's hand with a soft snort.

"Are you ashamed, Gryna? Was all that talk from years back about being proud of your heritage just hot air?"

Gryna Lox placed the hat firmly on the desk and took a step forward purposely invading the Potion Master's space. She was half his size and yet did not seem at all frightened as she glowered up at him, her bright blue eyes becoming frosty.

"Get out of my classroom, Severus. We shall discuss this later."

Snape lowered his head with a smirk in a mock bow before gathering up his robes and sweeping out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Professor Lox sighed and turned back to her class with a wan smile. She was once again nervous, and was sure that she was about to have to answer many questions from the students staring at her.

"I am sorry for that interruption, please put your hands down. There will be plenty of time for you to ask me questions about myself once class is over. Now, turn to page 275."


	2. Chapter 2

Trying to teach a class of young teenagers whilst they were all furtively looking at you (and some blatantly staring) was difficult at the best of times. But also having to deal with being humiliated by a colleague at the same time just made things worse. Gryna Lox soldiered on and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. She had been a fool to think that Severus Snape wouldn't take a jab at her, but she hadn't expected him to do so in front of her class. It seemed he hadn't changed one bit, and the professor wondered how she felt about that. To say they had been friends during their time at Hogwarts together would have been stretching it a bit. They certainly knew of each other, and Gryna had tried to be friendly, but Snape tended to keep to himself more than she did. Even more so after Lily rejected him.

Now there was someone she hadn't thought about in a while. Lily Evens had always been sweet to her, and even defended her on more than one occasion when the chants of 'Mudblood' became too loud for even her to bear. Granted, she was not as looked down upon as those with Muggle parents, but when it is known that your mother had been courted by one of the fae folk... well, people are going to talk. On many occasions Gryna had stated how proud she was of her heritage and that she felt it was good to be a little different. 'Can't all be the same!' had been a phrase she brandished like a shield.

Nothing had changed. She did not hate her mother for her decision, nor did she despise her appearance or what she was. She didn't ireally/i look that different from anyone else, minus the ears of course. The main reason she had decided to cover them up was because she knew how distracted students get, and she didn't really fancy having to go through her entire family history before being able to get them to do any work.

She was relieved to note that only a few dared to come and question her once the class was over. Perhaps telling off the Dungeon Bat had worked in her favour? The Professor spent the next half hour explaining that yes she was indeed half fae, no she didn't have wings, yes that explained why she looked so young and no she hadn't met any other fae and yes that included her father. Sure that she would be the gossip for the next few days, Gryna ushered the chattering teenagers out of the classroom and pondered how she was going to deal with Snape. She hadn't wanted their first meeting in all these years to instigate an argument, but then again she should have known better, he had always been like that.

The petite woman hopped up onto her desk and sat with her legs swinging, striped tights peeking out from underneath black ruffled skirts. She tried to think back to the first time she saw him, back when she had been the new kid coming in half way through term. He hadn't been much of a looker that was for sure. Not ugly, Gryna never thought of people as ugly, more that she found his appearance startling. He was so tall and thin, his skin a stark contrast of white against his greasy black hair. There were many times she had tried to befriend the sullen young man, but he never really seemed to want the company. He only had eyes for Lily. Before she got together with James, Severus would make light conversation every now and again, but after she broke his heart, he became more of a recluse than ever.

"And more of a stubborn dunderhead."

Dusting the chalk from her hands, she hopped off the desk and quickly packed up her bag. She hadn't specified an exact time when they were going to meet up and have this little chat, but she thought it best over and done with. If he was going to be churlish with her, then she wanted that sorted and out of the way. There was no way she was going to spend her time at Hogwarts being constantly glared at by the Dungeon Bat. Content that everything was in order, she grabbed her bag and trotted off to find him.

It had taken her a lot longer than she had expected to make her way down to Snape's classroom. There was just something about this school; Gryna swore that everything had moved around since she had last been here. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments a gruff "Enter!" came from within. Finding the door was indeed unlocked; she entered and politely shut the door behind her before allowing her eyes to get used to the dimness of the room. She finally spotted him at the other side of the room hunched over his desk, his quill scratching away at the parchment in front of him.

"Am I to wait here like a child, Severus? Or would you care to do me the common decency of at least looking at me?"

He waited a few moments more before putting down the quill and looking up at her. There was silence as the two looked at each other from across the room then he stood and stalked slowly towards her. Frowning slightly, he circled her taking in her appearance before stopping back in front of her and crossing his arms.

"Glad to see you got rid of that ridiculous hat. What were you playing at? The children have seen trolls, hippogryphs and dragons. I somehow doubt iyou/i would be very interesting at all."

Gryna managed a tight little smile, and mirrored his stance, arms crossed tightly across her chest and head cocked slightly to one side. The only difference being she had to crane her neck to look up at him.

"It's lovely to see you too Severus. I am quite aware that the students have seen stranger things than me, it doesn't however mean that they're not going to get distracted and stare. But thank you, by the way, for showing me the error of my ways. In front of my students."

She glowered up at him.

"On my first day."

The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours, but in truth was only a few seconds. Gryna refused to buckle and break the silence and continued to glower up at the infuriating man. Finally, Snape uncrossed his arms and clasped his hands in front of him.

"If I had said something outside of class, you would still be wearing that ridiculous hat now. I was doing you a favour."

Gryna rolled her eyes in exasperation, and walked past him further into the room, distracting herself by looking at the portraits on the wall. It was either that or shake him until his teeth rattled. It had been foolish to even consider that he might apologise, or gods forbid admit that he was wrong. She'd be waiting for hell to freeze over before that happened. Her ears twitched a little as she heard him walking up behind her.

"You haven't changed much. A little taller maybe. You don't look a day over twenty. "

Gryna turned back to face him and leant on his desk with a little smile. It was something that everyone was always commenting on. She had the same life span as a normal wizard, but her aging seemed to have slowed down dramatically.

"Yes well, one of the perks of being a filthy Mudblood I guess. Same lifespan as you, but I'll leave a beautiful corpse."

His lips thinned as he stopped about a foot away from her. His brow furrowed as he looked down at the petite woman through his curtains of greasy black hair.

"I never once called you that. Not ever."

He leant on the desk beside her and stared straight ahead, not even giving her a sideways glance as Gryna sighed and lowered her head. This wasn't going well at all. Were they just going to keep picking at each other until there was nothing left?

"No. But there were plenty of times you implied it. But never mind that, we were kids and as we both know, kids can be incredibly cruel."

Snape nodded and continued to stare straight ahead, only looking at Gryna when she stood upright again and walked towards the door.

"Perhaps we can try this again some other time when we're both not so obviously wound up. Good Evening, Severus."

She opened the door, but before she left she turned and gave the Potions Master a sunny smile.

"Oh, and you don't look bad yourself!"

The door clicked shut and Snape was alone in the room once more.

"Good evening, Gryna."


End file.
